Chapter 33
THIRTY-THREE
Amanda and Trent dropped off the financial paperwork and parted ways with the agreement they’d set out for the DC law firm first thing.
They also called the office and made an appointment for ten AM with the managing partner, Howard Gabay.
That left her and Trent with the rest of the evening to enjoy.
But when she stepped into her house, she was blanketed with loneliness.
Zoe wasn’t here. To make the stillness worse, Hernandez’s face popped into her mind with his smug smile.
She shook aside the sudden chill that came with the image.
That monster had no right to violate her peace, especially in her home, which was to be her place of refuge.
She flung her shoes off and kept walking through the home to the bathroom, where she ran a hot shower and let it blast her skin. She stayed there until the water ran cold, and even a bit after, trying to drown out all thoughts of the drug kingpin.
Her cell phone rang on the bathroom sink, and she turned off the taps and squeezed out between the curtain and the wall.
She was dripping all over the floor, but whatever…
If it was the job calling, she’d be there.
She lit up at the sight of Carter’s name on her screen. “Hello, there,” she answered.
“Oh? Should I take the lack of a formal greeting as a good sign? Are you off the clock?”
“You should know better than to ask that.”
“Right, you’re always on the clock. I was calling to see if you’re up for company.”
“How fast can you get here?”
“Given how happy you sound to hear from me, maybe not fast enough.”
“See you soon.” She ended the call and dried off.
There was a knock on the front door.
Maybe Carter was just down the street when he called. She wrapped the towel around herself, deciding to greet Carter just like that.
“I’m coming,” she said, prancing through the living room.
She’d come through the garage, so she hadn’t dealt with the mail that was spread on the floor of her entry. It had been pushed with abandon through the mail slot. She gathered it up and tossed it onto the entry table. One envelope fell to the ground, maybe more than one. She didn’t care.
She opened the door, wedging herself between it and the frame. It only took one second for mortification to hit. “Ah, Dad.”
He smiled and turned away. “It seems I’m interrupting plans.”
“No, no, it’s fine.” She gave an anxious look over his shoulder to see if Carter was pulling up. There was no one else in sight. “Ah, come in. I’ll just go put something on.” She held ever tighter on the top of the towel as she backed up and headed for the hallway.
She heard her father come inside and set the dropped mail on the table.
“You know you don’t have to hide your boyfriends from me,” her dad called out to her.
She was in her bedroom, desperately wanting to put the last forty seconds behind her. Hearing him label Carter as her boyfriend had her freaking out a bit. That label landed as a blow to her chest and snatched her breath.
She shuffled through her drawer in search of a pale-blue shirt with the words brING ON THE SUNSHINE.
It was made of light-weight material and fit her curves perfectly.
Where the hell is that T-shirt… And there it was!
She snatched it and put it over her lacy bra.
Then slipped a pair of capri shorts over lacy thong underwear.
At least she was ready for Carter after her dad left.
“Should I leave? I mean, it’s clear you have a guy coming over.”
“No, it’s fine. You’re here now.” She rushed back to the living room, where she found her dad on the couch. “Do you want water, tea, coffee…?”
“I’m good. I brought this for you, though.” He held up a brown bag from Petey’s Patties.
She’d been so self-conscious and shocked by him being on her front step she hadn’t even noticed it before. “You’re spoiling her, aren’t you?” The burger joint was Zoe’s favorite restaurant.
“You bet we are, but everyone at the house ate early. I drove by here on the way home with the order and saw you were here. I thought knowing you, you were starving yourself, so I made another trip to the place.” He handed her the bag.
“Bacon double cheeseburger, extra onions. That’s the way you like it if I remember right. ”
“You did. Thanks, Dad, but you didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to.”
The smells coming from the bag had her stomach rumbling, but she didn’t want to devour a burger with all that onion before Carter got here.
“You can always eat it later. Though it might not be as good.”
“Oh, they’re even good cold.”
An awkward silence settled between them.
For most of her life, her relationship with her father was one thing that had come easy with two exceptions.
When she turned her back on her family after losing Kevin and Lindsey and when the news came out about her father’s affair with Emma Blair.
Her cop instinct told her he was here to discuss the latter.
“Right, so as you gathered, I am expecting company…”
“Let me get to the point then, and I’ll be off.” Her father wet his lips, and with that, the self-assured man she knew lost some of his power. “I wanted to apologize to your face.”
“For…?” She was nauseous, not sure if it was latent hunger or anxiousness over where her father was going with this apology.
“I know you used to look up to me, even want to be like me and become police chief someday. I hope that my actions, namely the affair, haven’t derailed that intention. You’d be an incredible asset to the department in that capacity.”
“Dad, what are you saying?”
“I guess I’m trying to say that it eats me up that I’ve disappointed you, that I’ve hurt you. The affair I had with Emma Blair is unforgivable.”
Amanda processed her father’s words for a few minutes. “You’re only human, Dad.”
“Right. Well, that wasn’t how you used to see me.”
“I don’t know what to say to that. You are flesh and blood.” She offered him a smile, but he had his walls up. Or is it me? There was still a wound left from his infidelity.
“Hmm, Emma came to me. I guess there’s a situation with Spencer.”
Amanda felt her defenses rising. “You’re not here to tell me how to work my investigation, are you? You told Emma you weren’t getting involved.”
“And I’m not. Hell, I’m going about this all the wrong way.”
She could voice her agreement but gave him a pass, and offered, “Spencer’s been released of all suspicion.”
“Well, that’s great news.”
“Yeah.”
Her father wrung his hands. “I also wanted to apologize for putting you in that position.”
“Which position is that?”
“If the affair hadn’t happened, then… well, there wouldn’t be the recent complication.”
“Spencer also wouldn’t have life, Dad. The fact he does is a good thing.” Not that she believed Spencer was going to talk to her again. She had her own apology tour to make.
“I just meant… Well, I hope you didn’t go harder on him because you projected your anger at me onto him.”
She never thought of it that way, but he might have made a good point. Her going hard on Spencer may have been more than overcompensating to prove herself free of bias.
Her father eased off the couch. “What I thought. I’m not sure how I can ever make this up to you.”
Amanda stood, but she didn’t know what to say. Is there anything he can do? “It will just take some time, Dad, but we’ll get back to how things were.” They’d had their conversations on the matter before, but this one carried the promise of being their last.
“You’re right. More time.” He turned for the door, but she wrapped her arms around him. He kissed her on the forehead. “Have a good night, Mandy Monkey.”
She shook her head at the family nickname she detested. Not that her dislike for it discouraged her family from using it. They would probably have it etched into her gravestone. “You too.”
Her father reached for the door handle at the same time there was a knock on the door.
“Maybe just let me…” Amanda went to wedge in front of her father.
Her father was smiling, clearly amused at her discomfort. She opened the door to Carter, and backed up, expecting her father to mirror her movements. Instead he bypassed her, said nothing to Carter, but turned around and shot him a glare for Amanda to witness.
“Who is that?” Carter pivoted to look at her father.
Amanda touched his cheek, and moved him to face her. “It doesn’t matter. What does is it’s about time you got here.” She tugged on his shirt and yanked him into the house.